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Day 262 of 280 · 37 weeks + 3 days

The backup

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 7 sources · Plain-text version

Thirty-seven weeks and three days. Your provider may not be on shift when labour starts, so today you find out who covers and write the name down.

Size this week
about the length of a leek
Length this week
around 48.6 cm from head to heel
A woman with a full bump in a striped t-shirt at a clinic desk, writing on an index card while a midwife in navy scrubs points to a name on a printed rota, bright morning light.

Thirty-seven weeks and three days. Labour doesn't check anyone's schedule. Today's note is short on biology and long on one practical question: if your doctor or midwife is away the night it starts, who is there instead?

Your baby

A single leek with its green top on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 48.6cm long from head to heel, about the length of a leek (NHS). The NHS calls this full term: your baby is probably big enough, and mature enough, to survive in the outside world, though you may still have weeks of waiting (NHS). Normal labour at term can start anywhere from 3 weeks before to 2 weeks after the due date (MedlinePlus). That window is open now, which is why today's job can't wait for next week.

Your body

From week 36 your checkups are weekly until the birth (MedlinePlus), so you have a natural moment this week to ask. You may notice more vaginal discharge and more Braxton Hicks tightenings, which shouldn't be painful (NHS).

The AAP's list of last-minute jobs before delivery includes one that's easy to skip: record the hospital's name, address, and phone number, the doctor or certified nurse midwife who will deliver your baby and their backup, and the quickest route and entrance, and keep an ambulance number handy (AAP). Most people know their own provider's name. Fewer know the backup's.

Try today

  1. The backup-provider name

    Time: 10 minutes

    1. At this week's visit, or by phone, ask: "If you're not working when labour starts, who will be?" The AAP lists the backup among the details to record before delivery (AAP).

    2. Ask whether that's one named person, a group that shares calls, or whoever is on at the hospital. Any answer is fine; not knowing is the only bad one.

    3. Write the name, or the practice's after-hours number, on the card you keep by the door, under the hospital's phone number, the quickest route, and the entrance you'll use (AAP).

    4. Add the ambulance number at the bottom, as the AAP suggests (AAP), then photograph the card for both phones.

    Make it work:

    If you see a team of midwives, the backup may be the whole team. Write the team's number and one name you've met.

Watch for

  • Normal

    irregular tightenings that come and go.

    Call your provider

    right away for regular, painful contractions every 5 to 10 minutes for an hour, or contractions lasting 60 to 90 seconds (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    a small amount of blood mixed into mucus as the cervix starts to open when labour begins (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    right away for any other bleeding: late in pregnancy, always report bleeding (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    a headache that eases with rest and fluids.

    Call your provider

    right away for a headache that won't go away or gets worse over time, or one that comes with blurred vision or dizziness (CDC).

For you

You may have spent months building trust with one person, and the idea of a stranger at the birth can sting. A name on a card won't make them familiar, but it makes them expected, and expected is easier.

Ask the same question of the pediatrician you've chosen. The AAP suggests asking who covers when the pediatrician is unavailable, and how the practice handles after-hours calls (AAP). Same card, one more line.

If you're the partner: you're the one who'll be on the phone while she's breathing through a contraction. Keep the card in your phone too, and say the backup's name out loud once so it sticks.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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